Put Your Hands On Me If That's What You Need
by gleekyk
Summary: What does too much beer and heartache lead to? Robin and Marshall are about to find out. Set at the beginning of season 2.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I just thought that it would be fun to write a fanfic about these two. I know it will never happen on the show, and I'm okay with that! (: Takes place in the beginning of season 2. I haven't decided if this is going to be a one shot or not. Review if you like it!**

"I just can't be with Ted." Robin told Marshall over a beer. "I mean, how stupid would we be if we tried it again and it didn't work again. And I still can't believe that he lied to me about Victoria."

Marshall shrugged taking a long gulp of his beer. "I'm not getting married."

"Right, she said, shaking her head. "I came here to make you feel better about Lily, okay, sorry, go ahead and talk about Lily."

"It's just so hard because I love her so much but I-"

"But seriously, why would Ted think that stupid blue instruments would be enough to win me over?"

"Oh, okay, we're back to talking about you again," He said with a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"Sorry, sorry." She said. "I'm being a bad friend."

"You'd be a better friend if you got me another beer." She obliged, noticing that her bottle was nearly empty as well.

"Who needs Lily anyway?" Robin asked. "Sure she's nice and let's admit it, she's pretty smoking." She noticed Marshall's face drop.

"She's not the hottest though. I'm hotter than Lily." She said confidently.

He let out a small snort and shook his head.

"What was that?" She asked, her mouth hanging slightly.

"Come on, Robin, you're no Lily."

"That's right, because I'm a 10 and Lily is an 8 at best. I'm a 10 Marshall; ask anyone they will tell you that I'm a 10."

He nodded. "You are a 10." He said with a smile. "It's just that Lily is an 11."

"You can't be an 11." She said, quietly. "If you could be an 11 then I would be an 11."

"Okay, fine." Marshall said, "You are hotter than Lily, happy? Lily is beautiful to me, but as an average random skank you meet at the bar and want to nail, you win."

Robin smiled. "That's probably the sweetest thing you've ever said." She said high fiving him.

"If you were just some random chick at the bar I would nail you so hard." He continued. "You know… If you could handle it. My guess is probably not."

"Uh, you'd be surprised the kind of pounding I can take." She said with great pride.

"Robin Scherbatsky, are you a filthy whore?"

"The filthiest."

"Not as filthy or whorey as Lily though, right?"

"Of course not, because Lily is your ex, so that means that she'll always be a dirty whore. Unless you guys get back together and she comes back and decides to be my best friend again. If that happens then I love her and she's a lovely woman."

"But right now she's a filthy whore."

"Totally."

"Speaking of filthy whores, do you know what I should do? I should go down to MacLaren's and find a super skank and then take her home and have sex with her. Then I'll be better and happier than Lily ever could be with her stupid paints and stupid San Francisco."

"I'll totally be your wing man. I'm an awesome wing man." Robin said, getting off the couch and hurrying to get her coat.

"Yes!" Marshall said, getting excited for the first time since Lily had left. "Yes! I'm going to be Barney for the night."

"Let's go find a drunken bimbo that will let you have your way with her. I'm thinking maybe you can land a 9 tonight. That's a whole number higher than Lily."

Marshall high fived her, and grabbed his jacket.

-xxx-

"I'm not really feeling the crowd tonight." Marshall said a few minutes after stepping into the bar.

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked. "This place is swarming with hotties."

"Eh. I'm only seeing a bunch of 7s and 6s. I need at least an 8."

"Um, there's two 9s, over there by the bar."

Marshall scoffed. "Yeah right, it would be generous to even call them 6s."

Robin smiled at him. "Maybe you don't want to go home with a random bar skank."

"I don't." He said. "I thought it would be easy to be like Barney, but I don't know how he does it? The guy's disgusting."

Robin patted him on the back. "It's okay, you're not Barney. That's not something to be ashamed of. In fact, that's something to be proud of. You should be proud, because you're a classy son of a bitch."

"Okay, when people say that I always feel like they're just calling my mom a bitch, and she's not a bitch, she's a sweet woman who loves me very much and would do anything for me."

Robin rolled her eyes. "Whatever Mama's boy, let's get you home. I think you have a few more beer in your fridge and I'm starting to sober up. That needs to change."

-xxx-

Marshall laughed loudly after finishing off the last beer. "There were more than a few beers left."

Robin could barely see straight. The things that she did to make her friends feel better. She was an excellent friend. "And you know what." She slurred. "I haven't thought about Ted like once this whole night."

"You've been thinking about Ted all night." Marshall said, seeing through her lie. "Just like I've been thinking about Lily."

"Maybe I do want to be with Ted. What if I'm wrong when I say that I don't?"

"Ted loves you Robin." Marshall's words were so slurred that she could barely understand what he was trying to say. "Yeah he's kind of a wimp, but he's so nice and he loves you."

Robin pulled Marshall into a hug. "You're the best ever. You can be my new best friend. I don't even need Lily anymore." She told him.

He laughed. "You're boobs are on me."

She laughed too.

"Do you know what would be crazy?" He asked. "You know what would be really crazy, but also really super fun and awesome too?"

"Tell me." Robin demanded.

"If I hooked up with a 10 tonight."

"I thought that you only saw 6s and 7s, and I thought that you didn't want to sleep with a stranger from the bar."

"I know, I know. Get this. What if you and I had sex? Wouldn't that be… awesome? Because I mean you're a 10, right, and I wouldn't have to sleep with someone I don't know and I would continue to be nothing like Barney."

She narrowed her bloodshot eyes. "Well what's in it for me?"

He gave her a grin. "Oh Robin, you'll soon see exactly what's in it for you."

She thought about Lily. Lily was gone. She abandoned Marshall as her fiancé and she abandoned Robin as her best friend. Robin didn't care about Lily anymore. She didn't have to follow the bro code anymore, because technically she wasn't her bro anymore. She also thought about Ted, but really, her and Ted were nothing, they never really had been, and she surely didn't owe anything to him.

Marshall thought about Lily. He loved Lily, but clearly she didn't feel the same, if she did then she would be here with him and he wouldn't be trying to bone Robin. He thought about Ted too. This was kind of breaking the bro code, but Robin and Ted were never even together and she said that she didn't want anything to do with him. That meant that she was fair game.

Marshall leaned in and kissed her lips softly.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Marshall?" Robin asked. "I mean after we do this, we can't go back."

Marshall nodded. "I want to have drunken sex tonight with a 10, but I don't want it to be a stranger, and you're pretty much the only 10 that I know… besides Lily."

Robin fake coughed, mentioning the number 8.

"It would be fun." Robin admitted. "You're fun, and we have fun when we drink beer together, so why wouldn't we have fun when we do other naughty things together?" He thought that she was going to continue talking, so he kissed her again before she could say anything else. He couldn't take the anticipation any longer.

This kiss was more urgent. He slid his tongue into her mouth, and slid his hands from her waist up to her chest. He thought about how different she felt from Lily, and how nice it was to feel someone who wasn't Lily. There were other beautiful women in this world, and one of them was right there, and she wanted him. He could tell by the way she kissed him back.

He lifted her up effortlessly and carried her into his bedroom. _The bed that he once shared with Lily. _He set her down and continued to kiss her and feel her, but he wanted more of her.

For the first time in a long time he wasn't hurting. In fact, he wasn't thinking about Lily at all. He didn't think about Lily for the rest of the night.

The funny thing is that even though it was drunken sex, neither of them regretted it when it was done.

Marshall even let her stay the night.

He so wasn't anything like Barney.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm going to keep this going! I hope you guys like it even though it's strange and unconventional. I do proofread every chapter, but I'm not very good and proofreading and sometimes don't catch my mistakes, so I would like to apologize for any that I make. Reviews would make me very happy.**

Aside from the awful hangover, it was one of the few times that Robin had woken up in a bed that wasn't her own and wasn't filled with regret.

"Good morning." Marshall yawned, giving her a friendly hug. She was wearing his t-shirt and underwear, and he was giving her a good morning _hug_. It wasn't even an ass-feeling hug, just a regular old, "hi friend" kind of hug. "thank you." Marshall added after a minute. "You have no idea how badly I needed that." he was of course talking about their drunken sex that occurred the night before.

She smiled at him. "It was… something else. You were right. I did get the good end of the deal.

"I told you… and you were so… It was nice, and now neither or us have any weird feelings about each other… right?"

"No weird feelings at all." She answered honestly.

Robin discovered that he like good morning hugs a lot more then good morning kisses. She liked that her and Marshall's relationship was going to remain the same. She couldn't think of anything that could go wrong at this point.

Marshall felt amazing. He felt like sleeping with Robin had taken everything that was bad in his life and made it good. It was really what he needed to be able to move on.

"This is probably the best one night stand ever." But he spoke too soon, of course, and jinxed himself.

Before they knew what was happening Marshall's bedroom door opened. "Oh my gosh, Marshall, you're never going to guess what happe-" He stopped dead in his tracked, mouth opened, looking at his best friend in bed with the woman that he loved.

"What… What are you guys doing? How do you not know that you're supposed to put a sock on the door? You always have to put a sock on the door!"

"Ted." Marshall said, he was going to stand and face him, but then he remembered that Robin was wearing his clothes. "Listen, it's not what it-"

"Don't you dare say it's not what it looks like. You're in bed with Robin and she's… and you're… Why, Marshall, of all the girls in New York City, why Robin?"

"Don't be mad at him, this was all my idea." Robin lied.

"No it wasn't." Marshall corrected her.

"Dude, trying to help you out."

"This breaks bro code on so many levels." Ted said, kicking the door out of frustration. Ted wasn't very intimidating though, so the kick humored Marshall more then anything.

Robin got out of bed, afraid that last night had messed the group up even more then it already was with Lily being gone.

"Ted, look, last night didn't mean anything."

"Yes it did." Marshall corrected her again.

"Seriously! I'm trying to help you out here."

"Sure, Robin and I aren't in love, and were not about to get married, or even be anything more than friends, but last night was really comforting for both of us, and I don't know about her… but I don't regret it."

"You don't regret it? You knew how I felt about her." He said quietly. As if saying it in a hushed tone would prevent Robin from hearing him, but this only enraged her.

"You know, I can have sex with whoever I want to, and you really have no right to be mad."

"Oh please, Robin, you play with my emotions all the time, and you know it."

"I play with your emotions? Ted, I had genuine feelings for you. I wanted to be with you, but then you lied to me."

"And so now you're just going to go around acting like a slut?"

Robin's eyes widened. "Did you just call me a slut?"

"Yo, out of line, bro." Marshall said, still hiding himself under the blankets.

"I didn't say that you were a slut." Ted said calmly, the look on Robin's face kind of scared him. Okay, it really scared him. He knew she could probably take him. "I said that you were acting like one."

"Hey… uh, sorry to interrupt, but can someone hand me a pair of sweat pants?" Marshall asked, pointing to the bottom drawer.

Robin walked over, pulled the first pair out, and threw them on Marshall's lap.

"Yeah… these ones are kind of tight. I like the grey ones better."

"Really Marshall?"

"But they will work perfectly fine for today thank you very much."

"Come on Ted." Robin said realizing how awkward it must be for Marshall to watch them fight. She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the kitchen. "Can we just forget this last night happened? It was a one time thing, and… Marshall and I just needed each other last night."

"You guys don't want to be together?"

"No, Ted, please. If you just see how much better he feels you'll see why this was such a good idea, but he's not going to feel better if you guys get in a fight, so you better tell him that you're not mad at him, or else you'll ruin all the handy work that me and the girls managed to do last night." She emphasized her breasts when she said the girls, which was hard to do in Marshall's oversized t-shirt. It seemed to fit him pretty well, but almost came down to Robin's knees.

"I am mad at him though." Ted whined.

"Well think about how upset he's been and how much you've hated seeing him like that. Does it really matter what made him feel better as long as he's smiling again? He's not miserable for the first time since Lily left; do you really want to take that away from him?"

Ted didn't, and Robin knew that he didn't. He signed, knowing what he had to do. He had to forgive Marshall. After all, Marshall needed a win this once.

"Hey man." Ted said, coming into Marshall's room. (He made sure that he knocked first this time.)

"Hey… I'm sorry, Ted I didn't want you to find out like this."

"We're cool." Ted said. "I'm not mad."

"You're not?" Marshall asked surprised.

"No. Robin and I talked and I just want you to be happy."

Marshall smiled. "Thanks. I'm really glad we're cool."

"Sorry to interrupt this brofest." Robin said at the door. "But would it be possible for me to come and get my clothes?"

-xxx-

"So you're finally over Lily?" Ted asked. They were sitting on the couch, drinking a beer. It was like nothing had happened the night before, and that was how both of them wanted it.

"Yeah, I think so. Sleeping with Robin was something that I needed to do. It was like I broke my Lily chains and become someone apart from her… and also I got to score with Robin."

Ted smiled, envious. "I have to ask, how was she?"

Marshall gave a smug grin. "It would just be tacky if I told you… that she's a total animal who rocked my world." He remembered Ted's feelings for her. "But uh… I mean she rocked my world in a platonic way."

"It's fine." Ted said. "I know that I'm the one who messed things up with Robin… I'm glad that she helped you get over Lily."

"I really don't want to be with her." Marshall reassured him. "It really was just a one time thing."

"I believe you."

"And the important thing is now I'm completely over Lily and can move on with my life. I'm so over her that it's ridiculous. In fact, I feel like going and meeting someone new to marry right now. That's how over her I am." He could have gone on, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Ted said, and Marshall went into the kitchen to get a couple more beers.

Ted opened the door to find Lily standing on the other side. Her hair was a few shades darker as was her skin. California must have been sunny this summer.

"Hi Ted." She said, nervously, trying not to make eye contact with him.

"Uh… Marshall… It's for you." Ted said, wondering how over Marshall was going to be when he saw what was waiting for him at the front door.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Another chapter! I hope that you guys like it! (:**

"Lily." Marshall said in shock. She was probably the last person that he expected to see walk through that door. It took so much to get over her, but he still couldn't help but be happy to see her.

"Marshall." She said, smiling at him. "I… I missed you."

It was like one of those reunions in romance movies where the woman runs slow motion into the man's arms and then they kiss and profess their love for each other again and again.

"Hey, uh, Marshall. Can I talk to you in the other room?" Ted asked, breaking up their moment.

"Yeah, sure." He said, "I promise I'll only be gone for a few minutes, Lilypad." He said to Lily.

"Good, because a few minutes is all the time I can take being apart from you, Marshmallow." If Barney was there, he probably would have puked.

"You have to tell Lily what you did." Ted said when they were in the kitchen and he was sure that she was out of hearing distance.

"No way. Lily can't know what happened between me and Robin."

"She's going to find out."

"No she won't. She'll never have to know."

"Lily knows everything. You'll never get away with it."

"Robin is her best friend. Even if she was the one who left, I don't know if she would forgive me for that."

"Okay, but I'm warning you. Lily's going to find out."

"She's not going to find out."

"Find out what?" Lily asked. They both jumped at the sound of her voice. Ted gave Marshall a look that was screaming "tell her."

"How much I missed you." Marshall said, kissing Lily again.

"Hey Marshall." He heard a familiar voice from the living room. Robin. Shit. She wasn't in on the don't tell Lily plan. Marshall had faith that she wasn't going to say anything, though. Robin was smart enough to realize that Lily didn't know anything and that Marshall didn't intend on her finding out. Then Robin said those ten fatal words that gave everything away. "Did I leave my underwear in your room last night?"

Lily's eyes widened. "Why would Robin's underwear be in your room?"

"Oh… Hi Lily." Robin said awkwardly when she made her way into the kitchen to find Marshall and spotted her.

"What the hell you guys? I'm gone for a few months and you sleep together?"

"It was one time." Marshall said, knowing that denying it at this point would be a lost cause. "I really missed you and Robin just wanted to make me feel better."

"It was all my idea." Robin quickly told Lily.

"No it wasn't." Marshall corrected her. "It was my idea."

"Marshall. Helping you." Robin reminded him. "I'm so sorry, Lily. It really didn't mean anything."

"Robin, yes it did." Marshall insisted. "Look, Lily. Robin and I were really drunk last night and I was hurting really bad, she made me feel better, but… I love you. I just want everything to go back to normal."

"Well it's too late for that." Lily said, pushing past him. "You can have him, Robin."

"I should go after her." Marshall said.

"Let me." Ted said. "I'm the only one of the three of us that she doesn't want to stab right now. Marshall and Robin agreed and let Ted go after her.

"I'm sorry." Robin said to Marshall. "What were we thinking?"

"It was my idea, Robin. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I knew that this wasn't going to end well. I should have used my brain."

"It was drowning in beer."

"What if I lose Lily as my best friend?"

"What if I lose her as my wife to be?"

She hugged him. "Why are you so huggable and charming? It's what got us into this crazy mess."

"I don't regret it." He repeated. "I'm always going to remember last night."

"It was pretty unforgettable." She agreed.

They pulled apart. "You're a really good friend." He said. "And don't forget that whatever happens next, last night wasn't a mistake."

"You still don't think so? Lily hates us, and if you could go back in time you wouldn't change anything?"

"No way." He said. "I don't want you to think that… you were just some random hook up."

She touched his shoulder. "You were using me, but that's okay. I let you… I wanted you to. I guess in a way I was using you too."

"I wasn't using you though." He said. "I really wanted to have sex with you. I've been afraid to admit this to you, but I've kind of had a little crush on you since I first met you."

"Oh…" Robin said, trying not to sound surprised. "Well at least now it's out of your system, right?"

"I don't know. I thought so… but when Lily came here I was so happy to see her, and I want to be with her… but a small part of me was disappointed, because I knew that what happened last night would never happen again.

"I thought that we agreed that it was a one time thing."

"I know, but part of me… the penis part… kind of thought that maybe it wouldn't be a one time thing."

"But now Lily's back." Robin reminded him. "And now you get to be the woman that you truly love."

"What if she doesn't forgive me?"

"She will."

"But if she doesn't… Could we maybe… spend some more time together?"

"Marshall!"

"Look, I'm sorry, but… you're really good at sex, and you're really pretty and… if Lily doesn't forgive us then there's no one else that I want to call when I want sex."

She laughed. "I think that's the only time that a guy has actually ever said that too me, and surprisingly I don't even want to punch you."

"Come on, Lily. Marshall loves you." Ted tried to convince her on the front steps on their apartment building. "You should have seen the way that he was acting these last few months. He was a mess, really he was. All he was trying to do was move on because he thought that you were never coming back."

"Of all the girls… he had to move on with Robin."

"That's exactly what I said… But I understand. I mean, he didn't want to be Barney, who wants to be that guy that hooks up with random women in bars? He wanted to move on with someone that he trusted, and… Robin's his only friend that's a girl."

"Why would Robin do this to me?"

"Did you ever think that maybe you left the role as girlfriend and best friend when left and went to San Francisco?"

"Do you think I'm overreacting?"

"I think that you're mad, and that's probably normal, and you probably need some time to think, but you have to forgive them."

"What would you do if you were me?"

"My best friend slept with the person that I love more than anyone… We're kind of in the same boat here."

Lily nodded in agreement. "And you forgave them?"

"For the first time since you left, Marshall wasn't miserable. I had to forgive him."

"Well I didn't want him to be miserable."

"Neither do I. Neither of them wanted to hurt us… and they are sorry that we got hurt."

"Why did it have to be her?" Lily repeated, hiding her face in her hands. "If it were any other girl this would be so much easier. I don't know what to do."

"I think you do know." Ted said, he got up and walked away, hoping that something that he said stuck.

"Do you think she'll be okay with this?" Robin asked Marshall back at his apartment.

"I don't know she was pretty mad."

"I think she'll come to her senses. Lily is reasonable. I think she'll understand."

"And even if she doesn't we still have each other, right? I mean as friend… and sex partners."

"You're a really good friend, Marshall." Robin said, patting his hand. She didn't answer the question, because she was afraid to. The truth was that part of her wanted to sleep with Marshall again, but she knew that it was wrong. The first time was okay because they were drunk and they were comforting each other, but to have sex again after seeing how much it upset Lily would simply be not okay. Lily was her best friend, not matter what happens, and she doesn't want to hurt her.

She didn't have the heart to tell Marshall no, either, and he was a good friend too. If having sex with him would make him feel better, why not?

Because of Lily!

_Who cares about Lily? If she's not going to be understanding about it, then you don't owe her anything anyway._

But Lily's been such a good friend to you.

_Who cares? Think about Marshall. Naked Marshall._

I do like Naked Marshall… But it's wrong.

_It didn't feel wrong last night._

No it didn't.

"I decided that… that I just can't forgive you guys." Lily said, looking down at her shoes Robin hadn't even noticed her come in. "I'm sorry… Maybe one day I'll change my mind, but right now I just can't stop thinking of you two in bed together." Robin felt guilty that as Lily was talking, she couldn't stop thinking about her and Marshall in bed together again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: WARNING: There are feelings in this chapter. (: Let me know what you guys think. I kind of want to keep this one going.**

"So… what do we do now?" Marshall asked. It was the only thing that he could think to ask the woman sitting next to him. The woman that he loved had just walked out the door and his best friend was left sitting next to him, a close second.

"Lily is so… Who does she think she is?"

"We _did_ sleep together." Marshall pointed out.

"And she left, so she had no reason to-"

"Where does this leave us?" Marshall blurted out. "I really… we work well together and really we have nothing else to lose."

"Marshall, I thought we agreed that that was a one time thing," Robin repeated herself.

"Well that was before we needed each other again."

"What are you talking about?"

"I needed you last night, that's why you were there for me, well right now I need you again, and I have a feeling you might need me too."

"I'm not Lily." She said, quietly. "No matter what you do, you can never replace her with me."

"That's not what I'm trying to do." Marshall said, putting his hand on her knee.

"I know what it's like to get seduced." Robin said, flashing him a smile. "I mean, I know that this is what you're trying to do."

"Maybe it's not, what if… we talk tonight." He suggested. "Talking with you would make me feel better."

"That sounds awful." She admitted. "I'd rather have sex."

He leaned in and kissed her. "Then let's have sex." He gave her such a cute smile, she really couldn't resist him. She was a sucker for a beautiful smile.

Marshall remembered to put up a sock before closing his door behind them. He didn't want what happened last time to happen again. He hoped that Ted would understand, sure he did the first time, he just hoped that he would a second time, and a third time, and a fourth time.

He hoped that Ted would forgive him for a night's worth of bedroom fun with Robin.

"Marshall." Robin panted. "I'm so glad you decided to seduce me again."

He kissed the top of her head. It was more then the friendly next morning hug, but it still seemed so unromantic, not that Robin was the kind of girl that needed to be wooed with romantic gestures. Robin leaned up and kissed his lips anyway.

"If we're going to do this, we might as well go all out." She suggested.

"What are we doing? Are we just friends, or are we more?"

"I think… I don't know, it's kind of a fine line."

"Well what makes average friends different from us?"

"Sex." She said, laughing.

"Okay, what else?"

"Feelings?" She asked skeptically.

He smiled. "Sex feelings or like…"

"Like I think that you're the sweetest guy I've ever met feelings."

"And I think you're really pretty and funny and I like being around you feelings?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I have those feelings too."

"But, even when we were just friends, I thought that you were pretty and funny and I liked being around you."

"Well… I guess it's the sex that's changed everything."

"Are you my girlfriend?" Part of him wanted her to say yes, but the other part was scared of what it would mean for his and Lily's relationship if she did.

"What? No. No way, Marshall. No."

"Oh. Sorry." Marshall said embarrassed. "That's… silly. Of course your not."

She touched his chest, seeing that he was hurt. She had to learn how to say no in a nicer way, she was really starting to make guys sad. "It's not your fault." She said. "Maybe one day I'll be your girlfriend, but right now I don't really want to be anyone's girlfriend."

"So we're just… friends?"

"No, remember, we decided that we were more than friends."

"But you're not my girlfriend."

"This is a lot harder then I thought it would be." Robin admitted. "How about we just do what we want to do, and later we can decide what exactly we are."

Marshall smiled. "Okay. That sounds reasonable."

-xxx-

The next morning was what Marshall was fretting. He didn't want to get into a confrontation with Ted, but he would know what happened last night, especially after her saw Robin in his clothes again, which Marshall noticed looked good on her. He hoped that she wouldn't think that it was creepy if he watched her as she slept, because that's exactly what he was doing. Part of him was putting off going to talk to Ted, and the other part just noticed that she looked really beautiful when she was asleep.

He used to watch Lily while she slept too. Lily always thought that it was sweet, but Robin was very different from Lily. That's why he decided that if Robin woke up he would pretend that he was asleep too. He didn't want to scare her off already. Not that she was his girlfriend. She already said that that wasn't the kind of relationship that they were going to have.

Eventually he got up, found new clothes, that weren't on Robin, and prepared himself to tell his best friend that he had done the unthinkable… again.

Ted was sitting on the couch, already dressed for the day. It must have been at least afternoon. Marshall didn't get much sleep the night… he was a little preoccupied, but of course that was why he was standing nervously with sweaty palms.

"Judging by the sock, I'm guessing that you and Lily made up." Ted said, offering his fist.

"I can't bump that." Marshall said, suddenly feeling guilty. "It's not… it's not Lily."

"Well then… who is it?" Ted had an idea as to who it was, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

"Look, there's just something between Robin and I. I like her… I think. I don't know how I feel, but I know that she's so fun to be around, and really good at sex."

"Too much information." Ted said plugging his ears.

"I'm sorry." Marshall said. "Do you hate me?"

Ted gave his friend a small smile. "No. I'm not mad at you. Robin and I were never going to work out anyway. If she makes you happy then you should be with her."

"What happened with Lily?" Marshall inquired.

"Well, I thought that she was going to come up here and say that everything between you guys was good."

"She's usually pretty predictable." Marshall sighed. He never remembered having conflicting feelings like this when it came to women, it had always been just Lily and every other woman was nothing. Lily and Robin were both so different that he didn't know how it was possible for him to feel something for both women.

"So… what's this thing that you're doing with Robin?" Ted asked seriously.

"I don't know." Marshall admitted.

"Just… be careful. She acts like she's tough and that nothing can get to her, but she's actually pretty delicate."

"Am not." Robin said, yawning. Neither of them had noticed that she had come out of Marshall's room and was standing in the door way.

"Oh… Hi, Robin." Ted said awkwardly.

"I'm not delicate." She repeated herself. "I could really go for some pancakes." She said, turning her attention to Marshall.

"I'll get dressed and then we can go get some." He said. She took note to the skip in his step.

"I'm going to take a shower first." She said, smiling at him.

He smiled back, wondering if he was allowed to kiss her or if that was too much like something a boyfriend would do. He decided not to risk it, and let her go take her shower.

Robin thought about what she was doing as she stood under the warm water. She was ruining any chance that she had of rekindling her friendship with Lily. If this didn't work out, then she was putting her friendship with Marshall in jeopardy, and maybe even Ted too. But when was the last time that she met a guy that wanted her to spend the night, and liked to cuddle after sex, and let her take a shower before he took her out to breakfast the next morning. Marshall wasn't an average guy, and even if what they had was casual, Robin was lucky to have him. Her heart and brain actually agreed with each other that what she was doing with Marshall was different then the stupid things that she usually did when it came to guys.

Marshall laid back on his bed and smiled. He knew that he should have been sad that Lily couldn't forgive him, but apart of him wanted to see how this thing with Robin were going to work out. The truth was that he was intoxicated by her. She was the kind of girl that you could make wild monkey love to all night and then introduce to your mother the next day. He thought about what it would be like to introduce her to his family. His mom never liked Lily, and liked her even less since she left. His guess was that they would like Robin. She was basically everything that Lily wasn't. Marshall couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Ready?" Marshall asked Robin, who had just finished brushing through her hair and pulled it back in a near pony tail.

She smiled at him. "Ready.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I hope you guys like this chapter. I gave a lot of thought as to how I wanted their relationship to be, and I think that this is what it would be like. I hope you guys agree with me. Review!**

The idea of not putting a name with what they were sounded easy enough on paper, but the truth was that it was difficult. Neither one knew what boundaries were present. Marshall didn't know if he was allowed to kiss Robin goodbye when he left for school, or she returned home, so he usually just smiled at her and gave her a wave. Robin smiled and waved back. She wanted to be able to kiss him goodbye too, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. When they went out to dinner, Robin didn't know if she should pay for herself or let Marshall pick up the bill, though Marshall usually insisted that she let him pay, then when they got home and Ted asked how their date went, they didn't know weather they should correct him and insist that it wasn't a date, just two friends hanging out together, or if they should tell him the truth, that their date went very well. The hardest thing to not know about was how to address the topic of Lily. Was it okay for them to talk about her and how much Marshall loved her? If she was his girlfriend then it would be off limits of course, but she wasn't his girlfriend, and when they were friends, they talked about Lily a lot, but they were more then just friends now.

"How was your date?" Ted asked.

"It wasn't a date." Robin huffed at the same time as Marshall said "Good."

"I mean it was good." Robin corrected herself.

"What date?" Marshall asked. "We're just friends… but it was good."

"It was good if it was a date." Robin said, "and good if it wasn't." They high-fived to the perfect solution and made their way to the bedroom.

The bedroom was a place that neither of them were confused in. Their bodies worked together so perfectly. As her heart beat picked up speed, so did his and their hearts beat together through the pants and the moans. Robin knew that it was the best sex that she had ever had, and it was not just because Marshall was a machine. Any man could do what Marshall did, really, (okay, not any man, but she was sure that there were others out there, maybe) but what she really loved about it was his touch. It was tender and caring, like that of a lover. His caresses were sweet and they were what she craved when she was away from him. It wasn't his strong arms and steady pace, though she would never complain about that. What she loved most about being with Marshall was the way the he kissed her during and after, and before. It brought her back to wondering when she was allowed to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him every morning and every night. She wanted to call him on the nights when she couldn't see him, and tell him that she was thinking about him, but she couldn't do that. That was something that a girlfriend did and Robin wasn't Marshall's girlfriend, and she was fine with that. She didn't want to be Marshall's girlfriend.

She was fine with their situation. At least that's what she continued to tell herself.

It was one of those awkward next mornings where she didn't know if she should stay in bed with him or quickly run home. She yawned; decided that she was too tired to run. She hadn't had much chance for sleep the night before. So she rolled over, resting her head on his chest, and wrapping her arms around him. One thing that they were good at that wasn't sex was cuddling. Robin was never a big fan of cuddling, but Marshall was like a giant teddy bear. Marshall on the other hand had always been a cuddler. He sighed softly, waking to the contact of their still naked skin.

"Lily." She moaned softly. She knew that it shouldn't have bothered her. She knew that she had no right to get upset or jealous that he was calling her by Lily's name, but for some reason it made her feel like crying. He opened his eyes, quickly realizing his mistake, and how hurt Robin's eyes looked.

"I'm sorry." He said sweetly. "I didn't mean… it's just…. When you wake up next to the same person for so long… I didn't mean it."

She faked a smile. "Its okay, Marshall."

He ran his fingers through Robin's hair. Sure he missed Lily, but he had someone else in his life and in his arms right now. "You're really pretty." He said. Sometimes it was hard to believe that he was that sweet, sure he wanted sex, but it was almost like that wasn't why he said the sweet things he said or did the sweet things he did.

She smiled the way that she did when she got compliments from guys. "Thanks Marshall." Marshall wasn't the first man to tell her that she was pretty, and she was sure that he wasn't going to be the last one.

"You're really nice," She said, looking up at him.

He rubbed her back. It felt like he was touching his girlfriend, but he knew that he wasn't. He sighed. "I have to go to class."

She got off of him and began the usual morning search for her clothes. They were both fairly passionate people, and when it came to finding her clothes, there was no saying where they would be. Once they found her underwear hanging perfectly from the handle on his dresser on the other side of the room. They're still not positive as to how they got there.

Eventually, Robin found all of her articles of clothing, but wrapped herself in Marshall's t-shirt instead. She liked the way that it smelled, because she liked the way that Marshall smelled. She heard the shower turn on and thought about going in to join him, but she was so comfortable in his shirt, laying in his bed… doing all of the things that girlfriends did. She had to admit. It was the best friendship that she had ever had, if it was friendship that they had, but if it wasn't, then he was probably the greatest boyfriend she had. Either way, she was winning, so why did she need to know exactly what she was to him. Why did it matter that his groggy mind imagined her to be Lily? It shouldn't hurt her that he still loves Lily. She knows that he loves Lily.

"You okay?" Marshall asked, sitting next to her on the bed, nothing but a towel covering his body. "You look like you're thinking about something."

She smiled at him. "I'm great." She didn't have to tell him about all of her pain and insecurities. The truth was, boyfriend or just friends, it took a lot to get Robin's walls down, but she had a feeling that if this continued, one day she might tell him that even though everyone says she's beautiful, sometimes she questions it, because when she was a kid no one every told her that she was beautiful. It sounded so ridiculous and annoying even in her own mind. She felt like one of those girls in high school. The cheerleaders who said that they were on a diet because they wanted everyone to comment on how lovely they looked.

It was something that she had never told anyway, though, yet she found herself wanting to tell Marshall, because she knew that no matter how crazy it sounded it was the truth and she wanted him to know her better.

"I'm not as confident as I pretend to be." She blurted out. "I know that I always say that I'm a ten, but that's only because everyone tells me I'm a ten, really I only consider myself to be about a seven."

He smiled at her. "You're a ten." He assured her. "Trust me, you're beautiful." She smiled at him, and suddenly, she almost felt like maybe she was beautiful. She took his hand, not knowing exactly how to say thank you. It was probably nothing to him, but it meant so much to her. She had been called beautiful before sure, by some drunken guy that was trying to take her home before the bar closed, or the nerd from high school who also called his mom beautiful. She had never been called beautiful by someone like Marshall.

"Thank you." She said, trying not to show exactly how much those words had meant to her, after all, she could only expose so much of herself in one day, and it wasn't even noon.

Then something happened that neither one of them expected, something that hey had both been afraid to do, but had both secretly wanted to. Something that made both of their hearts skip a beat, even if it wasn't supposed to.

He leaned over and kissed her goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6

Robin and Marshall thought that the goodbye kiss was the end of the awkward and confusion in their relationship, but it turned out that it only answered one question, and there were still many that were left unanswered.

It was one of the times when they were arguing over who would pay for dinner, a fight that Marshall always ended up winning.

Marshall sighed. "This isn't working, is it?"

"What do you mean?" Robin asked innocently. She feared that he was talking about their relationship. She feared that he was ending what they had. She had become accustomed to it. She didn't want to stop spending time with Marshall.

"I mean, the way our relationship is right now." He said quickly. "Not us, we're working really well. At least, I think we are. Right?"

"Yes!" she said quickly. "I like spending time with you." She blushed a little, not used to admitting her feelings.

"I just think, maybe we should have the talk."

"Oh, that. If that's what you want. Right now?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Okay, um, I like you." She said shyly. She knew that it was putting her feelings mildly, but Robin wasn't the type of girl to admit something as personal as her feelings. "That's all I know right now is that I like you, and that I like the way that we work together."

"Me too!" He agreed. "I like our relationship."

"So it's a relationship?"

"I want to be with you." He said firmly. "I don't want to be with anybody else, and I don't want you to be with anyone else either. I want to see you everyday. I want to be able to call you my girlfriend."

Robin was unable to hide her grin. "That's really sweet, Marshall."

"I mean, I know that you probably feel like you're just a Lily replacement, but really that's not what you are."

"I know I'm not." She assured him. "I mean, I know I'm no Lily, but-"

"That's the thing though; you guys are so different it's impossible to even compare you. I mean I guess I still love her, but I'm starting to get feelings for you too."

"Feelings?"

"I mean…. only if you do too." He said nervously.

"Of course I have feelings. I mean it would be ridiculous if we didn't, especially considering how long we've known each other."

"We have fun together, right? We work."

"We do work." She agreed.

"So uh… Robin, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." She said without hesitation. "I will be your girlfriend."

"Wow. I can't believe that you're my girlfriend." She said, smiling like a little kid that just walked into the world's biggest candy shop. "I'm so glad though. I don't want there to be anymore question when it comes to our relationship… And also now you can't argue with me over who pays for dinner."

She smiled. "Deal."

-xxx-

When they returned back to Marshall's apartment, the last thing they expected to see was Lily sitting on the couch.

"Hey." She said quietly, quickly noticing Robin who walked in behind Marshall. "Oh… Robin, you're here."

"Uh, Lily." Marshall said, not able to look her in the eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I still have the spare key." She said, not really answering the question and looking down at her hands.

"I'm going to go and let you two talk." Robin said, taking a deep breath.

"No, wait." Marshall said, following her into the hallway. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

Robin nodded. "I know how you feel about her. I'm not going to stand in your way."

"I don't know what I want." He admitted, his hands in his pocket and his gaze not meeting her's. "I wish that I did."

She kissed his lips, hoping that it wasn't for the last time. "I'm going to go." She said softly. "Call me later… if you can."

Marshall entered the apartment again; Lily was sitting in the same spot, still looking at her hands. "So, we should talk." He said awkwardly. He didn't like what their relationship had turned into.

"Are you with her Marshall?"

"Robin and I work. And you left, so you don't get to be mad about it."

"I can though. Regardless of weather I left or not, Robin was my best friend."

"Look. I don't want to talk about Robin. Do you have anything to say about us?"

"I want you back." She said. "Whatever you and Robin have can't compare to what we had."

"It's two different relationships."

"I'm asking for you back. Are you really going to tell me no?"

"I can't." He said. "I can't say no to you."

Lily smiled. "I love you Marshall." She said, going in for a kiss.

He pulled back. "I can't kiss you yet?"

"What-what do you mean?"

"I have to tell Robin first?"

"Why do you have to do that?" she asked, her anger resurfacing.

"She's my girlfriend, Lily."

"You're _girlfriend_? Are you kidding me? You actually call her your girlfriend?"

"You don't understand. Robin is incredible."

Lily put her hands on her hips. "Then why don't you stay with her if that's how you really feel."

"Don't be stupid. I just said that I want to make us work again."

"But first you have to talk to Robin."

"It's only fair to her."

"Well who gives a fuck about her?"

"I do." He said, raising his voice. "I give a fuck about her, okay?"

Lily shook her head. "Why did I even bother to come here?"

"Come on, Lily."

"Either kiss me now or don't."

Marshall shook his head. "If I did that then I would be cheating on Robin, and I can't do that."

"So you're saying that you care about her more than me?"

"You're being unreasonable."

"Go tell her, then." Lily said, crossing her arms. "You have an hour to go and tell her and then get back here or else I'm gone."

"You expect me to get all the way to-"

"Yes." Lily snapped.

So Marshall set out on his way to Robin's, dreading breaking up with her. The truth was that he wasn't sure that that was what he wanted. Things were so easy with Robin. They weren't like that with Lily anymore.

He still didn't know what he was going to say when he found himself knocking on her front door.

"Hi Marshall…" She said, afraid to look directly at him. "How did it go?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "I love Lily, but I love you too."

Robin's eyes widened. "What?"

"I mean. Not like that. Okay, maybe like that. I'm sorry. I don't want you to hate me."

"I love you too." She said, before she could think about what she was saying.

He smiled at her. "That makes me really happy. I don't care if it shouldn't."

"I mean, I want you to be happy, even if that means being with Lily, but I love you."

He sighed, his mind going to million miles per second.

"So what are you going to do?" Asked Robin's hopeful voice.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you guys for waiting patiently! Here's my next chapter.**

"Maybe we have a chance." Marshall said to Barney in their usual booth. "I mean, what if me and Robin are meant to be together?"

"I have an idea. Dump both of them and bang a lot of chicks."

"No Barney, I don't want to do that. Can you just help me out here, please?" Ted was working late, which meant that the only person Marshall had to talk about this was Barney.

Barney sighed, "Okay. Well you don't uh… love Robin do you?"

"I uh, I think I do."

"That's crazy; you guys barely know each other. Pick Lily."

"You really think that I should pick Lily? But what about Robin, what do I say to her? I don't want to hurt her."

Barney tried not to smile. "I'll talk to her for you."

"No. No way. Robin is off limits."

"What are you talking about?" Barney asked innocently.

"You can't have sex with my ex-girlfriend. Last night she officially became my girlfriend. It's in the bro code, look it up."

"Come on. You're not going to be using her anymore."

"Why do you talk about women like that? Come on, she's going to be going through enough. I mean… look what she's losing over here. Don't make things more complicated."

"I won't try to sleep with Robin." Barney declared.

"Do you mean it?"

"It's the Bro Code." Barney said, shaking his head. "You can't break the Bro Code." Barney had thought about having sex with Robin for a while now He thought about it since that time that she invited him upstairs to play Battleship. The creepy thing was he didn't imagine just having sex with Robin. He imagined going to dinner first, like it was an actual date, and then he imagined cuddling all night. Gross. Cuddling was gross, and never under any circumstances okay, especially when it was Bro sex.

I guess there really wasn't a rule for Bro sex, because he'd never been into one of his bros before. Not that he was into Robin, that thought was completely insane. He just wanted to have sex with her. She said no, and that challenged him. He never backed down from a challenge.

"Barney, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, Marshall, I'm awesome. Why?"

"Because you looked like you were in pretty deep thought."

"Just thinking about what girl I'm going to bring home tonight." He said, lifting his hand up for a five.

"One day, you'll fall in love and you'll understand." Marshall said. He didn't know who he wanted to talk to first. He was making his way to his apartment, deciding that he would definitely tell Robin first. She was still technically his girlfriend, and Marshall Erikson wasn't a cheater, except, when he walked into his apartment, there was Lily.

"Hi Baby." She said with a smile on her face. "I just wanted to say, that I was acting so crazy yesterday, and I'm really sorry. I totally understand why you had to break up with Robin first."

Marshall nodded, wishing that he did break up with her last night. "I love you Lily." He said, avoiding her false statement. "I'm so glad that you came back, because I was so lonely without you, and I want to be together."

She smiled. "I'm really glad that you feel that way, because leaving you was so stupid of me. I should have married you, but my mind was just going a million miles per minute and I made a really big mistake."

He took her in his arms and kissed her the way that they always had before. The way that made time stand still and their thoughts of everything else disappear.

He smiled; all thoughts of Robin were miles from his head. His only focus was the woman in front of him. The woman that he was going to spend the rest of his life with. Flings happen all the time, but you don't marry those people, you marry the ones that you've loved since freshman year of college. You have fun with the Robin, but you marry the Lily. That's just how it goes. That's how Robin knows that it goes. She'd been thinking about it all day.

She cared about Marshall, a lot, and it was going to hurt, but she decided that she had to tell Marshall that they were over. It would save him the trouble of going back and forth between them. She didn't want to be a second choice anyway. She wasn't going to be the one that he turned to when Lily changed her mind. No. She had too much self respect for that.

So she decided that she was going to go to Marshall's and tell him that he should pick Lily. She was going to tell him that there was nothing left between the two of them and he owed her nothing anymore.

She took a deep breath before knocking. She was shocked to find that a half naked Lily answered the door. "Oh… Robin." She said. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to talk to Marshall." She said, trying not to think the worst.

"Who is it Babe?" Marshall called from the bedroom.

"But, it looks like you guys are busy." Robin said, trying not to sound like she was hurt, but damn, she at least deserved a little heads up. She figured she was worth at least that to him.

She walked away from the apartment where Marshall and Lily were celebrating their reunion as fast as she could, but before she could get too far, half naked Marshall caught up to her. Just like him to not leave something alone.

"Marshall, what?" She said, not looking at him or slowing down her pace.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. I just came here to tell you that Lily was the right person for you."

"I was going to tell you before I told her, but she was just there."

"Sounds like a good reason to sleep with someone. Kind of like when we first slept together, right?" She stopped and looked straight into his eyes, eager for his response.

"Come on." He said, not denying her accusation. "You're great, Robin. Really you are, and I don't want this to ruin our friendship."

She smiled. "It didn't."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I want you to be happy. I just, thought that maybe you would have broken up with me before you started sleeping with your ex-girlfriend again."

"I'm sorry." He repeated. "Really I don't know what I was thinking."

She sighed. "You weren't thinking. You were in love."

"So you're not mad?"

"I'm not mad." She said, honestly. "Now go back in there and nail Lily hard."

He hugged her. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, meet me at MacLaren's tomorrow night."

Robin was being honest when she said that she wasn't mad, she was just glad that he didn't ask her if she was hurt, because that was a completely different answer. She was surprised to find Barney, still alone at MacLaren's. He was usually home with a random blonde at this point of the night, usually one with big boobs.

"You look like you're thinking." Robin said, sitting across from him.

"You look like you're sad." Barney said back. "Talk to Marshall?"

"Oh yes. We figured we had to after Lily answered the door in her underwear."

Barney shook his head. "Rookie mistake."

"Your turn." Robin said, taking a sip from his drink. If it were any other girl, _any other person_, he would tell them to go get their own, but somehow it was okay when Robin did it.

"Don't tell anyone I told you this, but I'm starting to think that maybe random bimbos aren't the best thing in the world."

"Well I never thought that I'd see this day."

"I'm serious. I'm starting to think, what if I really am a one girl kind of guy and I just use all these… distractions, because I'm too afraid to go for the real thing?"

"Can I just tell you that the real thing sucks? Sex is awesome. Sex is fun. It's when you get into the kissing and the hugging and the "Hey, Robin, will you be my girlfriend," that's when people get hurt."

Barney gave her a weak smile. "Robin Scherbatsky has feelings?"

She took another drink. "Apparently so." She said, looking down at the table, feeling an awful lot like crying.

"Don't cry." Barney said softly.

She looked up. "I wasn't going to." She said, as if it was the most absurd thing that she'd ever heard.

He smiled at her. "I could really go for a nice glass of scotch and a cigar right now."

"Scotch and cigars sounds awesome."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry, this kind of turned into a Barney/Robin fic. I have a tendency to make everything about Barney and Robin. ;) I'd also like you warn you that I proof read this at 2 in the morning.**

Pretending like everything was okay with the group was hard at first, but eventually it became easier and easier until it really was as if nothing had ever happen. It stopped being awkward when Lily and Marshall snuck off to have sex. Marshall stopped watching what he said to spare Robin's feelings. Robin even agreed to be Lily's maid of honor. There was a time when Robin would cry after a meeting at MacLaren's, though she never would admit that to any of the other group members. She knew she could have easily cut herself out of the group. They had survived without her before, and she was sure that they could do it again, but these people were her family now. The only family that she had and she couldn't pretend like she didn't need them.

"So be honest." Barney said, everyone else had cleared out from MacLaren's and it was just the two of them left. Barney pretended like it didn't excite him every time they were alone together, because that would mess up the group again. He saw how hard it was for Robin and Marshall to pull their friendship back together, and he didn't want to put everyone in the situation that they had been in for almost a year. That's why when he went to get Robin another drink he sat across from her as apposed to the seat he had previously had beside her. She didn't question it. She probably didn't even notice.

"Be honest about what?"

"It's not weird for you? To be with them?"

"If you're talking about Lily and Marshall-"

"Of course I'm talking about Lily and Marshall."

"They're so happy." She said. "That's all I want for them." He could tell by the sincerity in her eyes that she was being genuine. This made his heart do a somersault. Why did she have to be such an incredible person?

"You're a bigger person then I could ever be. I don't know if I'd be able to watch someone I loved be with someone else."

She shrugged. "I think we both knew that what we had wasn't going to last forever. And what would you know about love?" She added lightly.

He smiled a little. "You'd be surprised."

"Oh right. Shannon."

"And… others."

Robin raised her eye brows at this, suddenly becoming very interested. "Others?"

"What?" He said, realizing what he had just let slip. "Others? There were no others? The Barnman doesn't do love."

Robin rolled her eyes, pretending like she believed him, but there was something in his voice that told her he was lying through his teeth.

-xxx-

"Marshall. I have to talk to you." Barney said, bustling through his apartment. He still couldn't believe that he had told Robin that he may have loved a woman in his life. That was one step away from telling her that the woman may be her.

"Do you know what time it is Barney?"

"Remember what you said to me last year?" He said, ignoring his tired yawns.

"Yeah Barney. I remember a conversation that we had a year ago. You don't even have to refresh my memory."

"You said that I couldn't try to sleep with Robin."

"You didn't!" Marshall said, suddenly awake "Come on, we finally got the group back to normal. You ruined it again."

"Settle down. I didn't have sex with Robin." Barney said, rolling her eyes. "I had a question for you, though." He was unusually nervous for Barney.

"No, Barney, you can't sleep with Robin."

He sighed. "That wasn't my question. I was wondering if instead of sleep with her I could do… other stuff with her."

"Ew. Gross. Double no."

Barney huffed, wishing he could be offended by his friend's lack of confidence in him. "I don't mean gross stuff. I mean, what if Robin and I… kissed."

"Why would you kiss her?" Marshall asked confused. "Why would _you _kiss any girl if you didn't want to sleep with her?"

"Because she's pretty! That's why!" Barney said in the over dramatic way that Barney often said things. "She's so so pretty!"

A grin spread across Marshall's face. "Are you saying that you have a crush on Robin?"

"A crush?" He asked, as though it was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard. "Of course I don't have a crush."

"You think she's pretty, and your first instinct isn't to sleep with her."

"Well Robin's not like other women."

"Because you love her." Marshall said smugly crossing his arms.

"Please. It's because we're friends. I can't use my old tricks because she knows them all, and I can't exactly leave her in the middle of the night. She'll see me the next day at MacLaren's. It's a challenge. I don't love Robin." He scoffed. "I love the challenge."

Marshall wasn't that easily fooled, however. He could see right through Barney and his ridiculous charade. "So you just want to have sex with Robin?"

"Yeah, but due to the Bro Code, I need your permission."

Marshall smiled. "Okay, you can sleep with Robin." Barney's face lit up. He really wanted to see what Robin's boobs looked like. "But there's a condition."

"What kind of condition."

"You can have sex with Robin, but you have to wait a year."

Barney's mouth fell open. "I can't wait a year to have sex with a woman. That's just… who does that?"

"You have to take her on dates, and you have to kiss her and hug her and cuddle with her and talk about her feelings for a year, then you can have sex with her. And during this year you're not allowed to have sex with anyone else either."

"I don't want to do that!" He whined.

"Then you don't want to have sex with her."

Barney considered. He wanted to have sex with Robin. He really wanted to have sex with her, and a sick part of him wanted all of the other stuff too. "Okay." He finally said with a sigh. He couldn't believe that he was giving up sex. He never thought that he would see the day that this happened voluntarily.

Marshall smiled. He had feelings for Robin once, but they had gone away. What he wanted most for her was what she had always wanted for him, and that was happiness. Maybe Barney was the one who could make her happy. He saw a sparkle in Barney's eyes, one that was unmistakably love. Love for Robin Scherbatsky. "Take good care of her." Marshall said. "Seriously. She deserves to be treated like she's perfect."

"She is perfect." Barney said quietly, hoping that it was quiet enough that Marshall didn't hear him. Marshall heard though, and he smiled. She needed someone who thought she was perfect. She didn't need someone who thought of her as a transition. She deserved someone who knew that she was who he wanted to be with, not someone who thought that he might be in love with her. Even though he tried to hide it, Marshall could see the certainty in Barney's face.

So Barney was able to sleep with Robin. He thought about this as he left Marshall's apartment. Whatever feelings he had for her would become irreversible if he spent the next year cuddling with her. Just the thought of it scared the shit out of him.

He sat down at the bar stool at MacLaren's. He needed a minute to clear his head. He got 47 seconds before Robin sat down next to him. "What's on your mind?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "Just some chick I'm going to nail."

She rolled her eyes. "I should have known."

"Let's get out of here." he said. "I know this really good Mexican place. It's on me."

That counted as a date, right?


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I kind of forgot about this story, to be honest, but I found it and want to finish it off, so I think I will do that now.**

Robin wasn't exactly sure how to react to a situation like this, because it had never been a problem for her, but Barney had been (okay, fine, she'll admit it) her boyfriend, for nearly a month, but besides a kiss goodnight, and an arm around her shoulder he refused to touch her. With most guys she had to work to keep them off of her, she'd never had to work so hard to get a guy into bed.

"So, I was thinking, maybe we should skip dinner tonight." Robin said, holding her phone up to her ear.

"But I found this really great place in Queens." He wined.

"I was thinking instead you could come over here, and we could... you know, do other things."

"I can grab my star wars DVD collection."

"No, you idiot, I want you to come over here and have sex with me. What the hell dude? I've been trying to get into your pants for two weeks straight."

"I mean… isn't it a little early for that? Shouldn't we, you know, wait" Barney said lamely.

"What's wrong with you? You have had sex with tons of women; most of their names still a mystery to you, what's the deal? Is it because I brushed my teeth in front of you, I mean I know that that's not exactly sexy, but I didn't think it would be deal breaker."

"It's not that."

"Then what is it? Are you… not attracted to me?" There came those insecurities again. She wondered if Marshall still remembered the talk they had that morning.

"What? Are you serious? Of course I am, look at you."

"Yeah, I figured it was far fetched, but something has to be going on, so tell me."

Barney sighed. "Okay, well Marshall told me that I had to date you for a year before I could have sex with you."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I can't have sex with you without his permission because-"

"His _permission_? I'm sorry, why does Marshall have any say in what goes on between us?"

"Well according to the Bro Code-"

"Are you kidding me? The stupid Bro Code, that's what this is about?"

"Don't knock the Bro Code, okay? Besides, it's only eleven more months."

"You are unbelievable. Both of you are unbelievable." She hung her phone up, and tossed it on her couch before storming out her front door.

The last thing Marshall expected on his relaxing day was an angry woman to burst through his front door. Things had been a little awkward between him and Robin since they had broke up, so he was surprised when she barged in without so much as knocking.

"Robin," He said, jumping to his feet from the comfortable couch which he'd been attached to all day. That's why he liked days when Lily went shopping. It gave him plenty of time to do nothing. "What… why are you here?"

"You told Barney that he couldn't have sex with me?"

Marshall sighed. "I guess I should have told him that he wasn't allowed to tell you that I said that."

"What the hell is wrong with you Jackass? I was okay when you went back to Lily because I know that she makes you happy."

"Are you saying that Barney makes you happy?"

She turned a light shade of pink. "Shut up."

"I want you to be happy." He said lightly.

"Then why are you trying to sabotage my relationship?"

"I'm not, I swear. I had to make Barney promise that, because you know how Barney is. He would have tried to sleep with you on the first date."

"And I would have told him no. But a year, seriously, an entire year?"

"I didn't want him to rush into anything, I know Barney."

"I do too, and I'm a big girl. I think I can decide who I will and won't have sex with."

He shrugged. "Well Barney's not going to break the Bro Code, so it looks like you're out of luck."

"I'm so sick of hearing about this stupid Bro Code. It's not even real, and you guys are idiots for taking it seriously. It's something that Barney made up, and you guys act like it's not just a joke." Robin knew that she was getting a little too intense, but damn it, it wasn't easy seeing Marshall with Lily. She was happy for them, of course. She wanted her friends to be happy, but she did have feelings for Marshall once, and she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose, but seeing him parade the woman that he'll always love more wasn't exactly her idea of a good time, but Barney distracted her from that, maybe she was even starting to fall for him, and there was Marshall, getting involved in her new relationship, as if it was his intention to deprive her from happiness. "I would never do this to you." She said quietly. "I even encouraged you and Lily to be together."

"Robin, its okay, it's just that if anything happens between you guys, I want it to be because you love each other."

"Love? That's kind of a big word." She said, faking an obnoxious laugh, because the truth was, she could see herself loving Barney, and that made he want to put all of her walls up and run in the opposite direction.

"I was afraid that if Barney and you had sex right away you would leave it at that, and the thing is I kind of think that you two are perfect for each other."

"You… you do?"

He nodded. "And I figured that after everything that happened between us, the least I owed you was some kind of shot at happiness."

"That's the thing though; I don't want you to be the one in control here, okay? I want whatever is happening between me and Barney to be between me and Barney."

"I just don't want him to hurt you." He said, putting a large hand on her shoulder.

She laughed. "I'm Robin Scherbatsky; I think you forget that sometimes."

"I know exactly who you are, and I know that you have just as many feelings as the next girl, you just do a better job at hiding them."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're really annoying?"

He shrugged. "I'm only annoying because you know that I'm right."

"Can you please tell Barney that you give him full permission to do whatever he wants with me?"

"He has a video camera in his headboard." Marshall sighed. "You might want to tell him to turn it off, and also, if he ever does anything at all to hurt you, promise me that you'll let me cause physical pain to him." He sighed. "He's not going to hurt you though, because the truth is, even though he's a womanizing jackass, he's better for you than I ever was. I mean, I thought that it was okay, that I was just using you for sex, because I did it more than once, and I called you back, but it wasn't okay. You were my friend, and I shouldn't have done that. I always talk about what a jerk Barney is to women, but I guess I'm really not much better am I?"

"Marshall, stop. You didn't use me, okay? Sure, you didn't _love_ me…"

"Of course I love you, Robin. I mean, not in the way that I love Lily, and not in the way that Barney loved you, but I do love you, you know that right?"

"Did you just say Barney loved me?"

"Robin, Stevie Wonder could see how much Barney loved you, okay?"

"Can you tell him that he's allowed to have sex with me please?" She said quietly

"I wouldn't try all of the weird stuff that you do the first time, because sometimes that can be freaky, but I guess for Barney that probably wouldn't even be freaky at all."

Robin laugh, filled the gap between them and embraced him in a way that she hadn't since Lily returned. Sure, it was just a friendly hug, but it meant so much more to Robin, because no matter what happened with Barney, she knew that Marshal would always be there, not as her boyfriend or even as her best friend, but he would ways be there, that's how she knew that what Marshall did wasn't use her. He may have needed her once to be there in a way that only she could be, but right now, she needs him to be there just as badly.


End file.
